ChessBase Magazine 166

Shamkir: At the Gashimov Memorial Magnus Carlsen once more underlined his unique class: 7 out of 9 without a defeat confirmed his ranking as the clear No. 1 in the world. Vishy Anand can also be satisfied – with 6 out of 9 he advanced to second place on the ranking list. The Indian has annotated a game for you, just as Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So have provided comments on games. In addition you can find on the DVD all nine daily summaries by Daniel King.

Team WCh: China impressively triumphed in its duel with the Ukraine and with its young team it won its second major title in succession. You will find on the DVD annotations by Ftacnik, Illingworth, Krasenkow, Marin, Mokal, Pavlovic, Roiz, Stohl, Sumets and Szabo.

European Championship: Evgenij Najer is the surprise European champion. Players who took part, Mateusz Bartel (3rd place), Alexander Ipatov, Viktor Laznicka, David Navara (2nd place), Evgeny Postny and Andrey Volokitin have annotated games of their own. Mihail Marin has once more put together a major opening survey. Daniel King contributes a video with a game by the new European champion. With further annotations by Krasenkow, Meulders, Mikhalchishin, Mokal, Roiz and Szabo.

The setup with 5.e4 named after Botvinnik involves an immediate capture on c3, otherwise White would play Nge2 and protect the Nc3. In the first part Robert Ris examines the capture with the d-pawn, which, however, Black does not need to fear.

The white setup is disrupted with 8...Qa5. If the Nd4 moves away, Black can develop with ...d6. As Spyridon Skembris explains in his article, the most promising setup for White consists of 9.Nb3 Qh5 10.c5.

Marin: Kangaroo Defence A401.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Nc3 b6

With 3.Nc3 (instead of the more popular moves 3.Bd2 and 3.Nd2) White signals that he would have nothing against the Nimzo-Indian. But Mihail Marin tries to avoid precisely this with his suggestion for Black. His extensive analyses prove that this can succeed.

Here White has a lead in development and would like to open the centre. Andrey Sumets investigates the most important plans for both sides and at the moment considers that it is more up to Black to look for improvements.

According to Max Illingworth White cannot force an advantage with this setup. However, it has become a little unfashionable and could set Black some unexpected problems. The article of our Australian author, from White’s point of view, represents some major help.

Our Swiss author Jonas Wyss has successfully employed the pawn sacrifice 12...e5 several times in his practice. With the most exact play White can probably achieve a minimal advantage, but very probably that is impossible without some pre-knowledge.

The move 6...Nb6 is a relatively new try. The idea: before a safe square on a2 beckons to the Bc4, it is challenged. Georgios Souleidis investigates on the DVD the most important variations and cannot see any advantage for White. So 6.a4 is already being played frequently these days.

The drawing rate is high in the Four Knights Game, but Black can perhaps obtain more interesting positions with the move recommended by Alexey Kuzmin, 8...Re8. According to the state of theory so far, Black should hold his ground successfully.

Karolyi: Queen's Pawn Game D021.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nc6 3.d4 Bf5

As Tibor Karolyi explains in his detailed article, Black would like with his plan to avoid the King’s Indian Attack. The Bf5 is aiming in two directions: with ...Nb4 the white setup is disrupted, but this is also frequently followed by a later ...Bh3.

With the queen check White avoids the Vienna Variation (5.e4 Bb4), but after 5...c6 6.Qxc4 the Semi-Slav has been reached. Michal Krasenkow presents a suggestion for White which forces Black to play very precisely.

The theory of the 5.Bf4 variation has grown enormously in recent years. As Evgeny Postny explains, with 7...Ne4 Black would like not only to avoid theory, but also to become slightly more active himself. It appears to be sufficient for equality, but White retains the activity.

Schipkov: King's Indian E601.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Ne2

The move 3.f3 has become very popular in recent years as a weapon against the Grünfeld Defence. But if Black plays the King’s Indian White can also abstain from a transposition to the Sämisch System – he omits Nb1-c3. Boris Schipkov presents the latest results.

This variation has been uncommonly popular of late. Krisztian Szabo has investigated the most important new developments and sees “a sound variation which is playable for both sides”. Much depends on how well you understand the ensuing positions.

Sample video

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Enjoy the high points of Norway Chess 2015 and FIDE GP Khanty-Mansyisk with high-class annotations and “Round-up-shows” with Daniel King (video). 14 opening articles with lots of new ideas. Training sessions from the opening trap to pawn endings!

Five top-class tournaments: Carlsen was among the starters twice (Wijk and Baden-Baden) and was victorious on both occasions. The same goes for Nakamura but in Gibraltar and in Zürich. The FIDE Grand Prix (Tiflis) saw an impressive victory by Tomashevsky.

A top class European Cup and pure tension at the World Cup - these are the focal points of the present issue. With video clips by l'Ami, Marin and Shirov, as well as 11 new suggestions for your repertoire, you can look forward to a rich training program.

WCh-match Sochi 2014 with a survey by Marin and video analyses by King. Hightlights from the London Chess Classic and Qatar Open with annotations by Yu Yangyi. Training on tactics, strategy and endgame. 12 opening articles with new repertroire ideas!